THE B-52S + DEVO: COSMIC DE-EVOLUTION TOUR

I think the music of the 1980's was the greatest of all time. Okay, perhaps I'm being a bit hyperbolic. But this was the era of my formative years as a teen moving into adulthood with this exhilarating music helping by providing a soundtrack to my budding life. This is why I was looking forward to the B-52s and Devo coming together as part of the Cosmic De-Evolution tour with a two night stop at the Hollywood Bowl which I caught on October 19th. I had never seen either of these bands before and excited to see them. Yet I must admit I was also somewhat apprehensive since it's been about forty years since these bands had made regular appearances on the music charts. But I'm happy to report that I was not disappointed for a single moment during their performances. While they may be moving a little bit slower now, Devo and The B-52s were giving their all and ready to party hardy.

The B-52s came out first, launching into the title track of their fifth album, "Cosmic Thing". Formed in Athens, GA in 1976, the band embraced it's queerness from the beginning with their delightfully oddball songs and kitschy fashion sense. Now down to the three original members: Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson who all provide vocals and percussion (Keith Strickland, who played drums, guitar and keyboards, retired from touring in 2012 and Cindy's brother, Ricky died of AIDS-related illness in 1985), the band was still in great form with their sound filled out by Tracy Wormworth on bass, Ken Maiuri and John Andrews on guitars and drummer, Sterling Campbell.

The band covered their quirky songs that didn't really rise up the pop charts but helped create a rabid cult following like "Party Out of Bounds", "Dance This Mess Around", "Private Idaho" and "Rock Lobster". The B-52s did achieve commercial fame with their "Cosmic Thing" album in 1989 where "Love Shack" reached number three on the US pop chart. Another top-ten hit from the album was "Roam" which is highlighted by the soaring harmonies of Wilson and Pierson, a nice contrast to the shout/sing style of Schneider. Still in dynamic vocal form, the women had another opportunity to show off their melodic skills with "52 Girls" from their debut album.

Devo was early to embrace music videos (years before MTV arrived) to enhance their songs, using visual images to express their social worldview with surrealist humor, and the group projected outlandish imagery on screens behind them throughout their performance. This new wave band from Akron, OH, taking their name from from the concept of "de-evolution" which involves the idea that mankind reverts back instead of moving forward, first came together with two sets of brothers: Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Gerald and Bob Casale and Alan Myers (who passed away in 2013). Devo had disbanded in 1991 but came back together five years later with the Mothersbaugh brothers and Gerald Casale still together on the road performing (Bob died in 2014). On stage, Devo went through many of their best known songs: "Peek-A-Boo!", "That's Good", "Jocko Homo", "Freedom of Choice" with adept precision while placing their biggest pop hit, "Whip It" unceremoniously in the middle of the set.

Lene Lovitch, a prominent figure in the early new wave scene, was the special guest who kicked off the concert, bringing her unique brand of art-rock to the stage. Although born in the Motor City, she moved to London as a teen, soaking up the early punk movement that would influence her explosive musical sound and eccentric style when she began her career. Never gaining more than a cult following in her home country, Lovitch reached the top three on the UK Singles Chart with "Lucky Number" in 1979. The now seventy-six year old performer remains a magnetic presence, delivering a massive dose of wild, quirky energy to her opening set.

The Cosmic De-Evolution tour was certainly a fun, nostalgic musical trip back in time with the crowd made up of the expected fans who were around during the height of each of these band's fame. Yet I was pleasantly surprised to see that the audience also had plenty of Gen Z and younger filling the seats at the Bowl, fully apreciating and enjoying music that was made long before they were born.

THE FIRST TIME: PART ELEVEN

"BELLADONNA"- STEVIE NICKS (1981)

She was born Stephanie Lynn Nicks in Phoenix, Arizona in 1948. Her father, Jess was an executive for a food company, so the family moved frequently while her mother, Barbara was a homemaker who was over protective of their only child. She kept her young daughter in with her and entertained her by reading her fairy tales.

Stephanie's grandfather, Aaron, an aspiring country singer, taught her how to play the guitar and they were soon performing duets when she was four. She was called "Stevie" because as a child, she had difficulty pronouncing her birth name.

At sixteen, Stevie received her first guitar and began writing songs. She joined her first band called The Changing Times during high school while the family lived in Los Angeles. She met Lindsey Buckingham while a senior in high school and he soon became her romantic and musical partner. After graduation, they both attended San Jose State University in 1968 and asked her to join his band, Fritz that he had formed. Fritz became a popular live act in San Francisco, even opening for Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. They both soon dropped out of college to move to Los Angeles so they could pursue their music career full time.

However, Fritz disbanded in 1972, so the two became a musical duo known as "Buckingham/Nicks". The duo received a recording contract with Polydor Records and released their self-titled debut, "Buckingham Nicks" in 1973.  The album did manage to generate some buzz for the group but it was not much of a success and they were dropped from the label.

Mick Fleetwood heard a track of the duo and made an initial offer only for Lindsey Buckingham to join his band, Fleetwood Mac, however he extended it to Stevie Nicks only after Mr. Buckingham stated he would not join without her. Their first album with the group was in 1975 with the self-titled, "Fleetwood Mac", although it was the band's tenth album. This album was a major hit, eventually selling over five million copies with three top-twenty singles including Ms Nicks' contribution, "Rhiannon". Tension grew between Buckingham and Nicks following the success of this album and the couple soon broke-up but both decided to continue with the band. Fleetwood Mac's next album would take the group in to a whole new level.

"Rumours", released in 1977, would become a monster smash album with four top-ten singles that includes the Stevie Nicks' composition, "Dreams" which is the band's only number one single. The album would sell an astounding forty million copies worldwide which made it the ninth highest selling album of all time.

Stevie Nicks had amassed a large collection of songs, some dating back to her days with Buckingham/Nicks, and since she was limited to a small number to be included on a Fleetwood Mac album, she decided to record a solo album. She signed with Modern Records in 1978 and began work on it, while recording Fleetwood Mac's follow-up album, "Tusk" and by 1981, her album was completed. It was titled, "Bella Donna (US Release)" and it would go to number one on the Billboard Album charts and would sell four million copies. There were three top-ten hits including two duets, the first single,"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Tom Petty and the next, "Leather And Lace" that features Don Henley of The Eagles.

Stevie Nicks has remained with Fleetwood Mac over the years while recording solo albums in between.  She has released a total of seven solo projects including the recently released, "In Your Dreams" which was her first in ten years and is enjoying rave reviews and brisk sales.

Ms Nicks has been romantically linked to rock stars, Don Henley, Mick Fleetwood and Joe Walsh but she was only married once to Kim Anderson in 1982. He was the widow of her good friend, Robin who recently had died of leukemia but the couple divorced eight months later as they realized they had come together more because they were grieving than because they were actually in love.

This is Stevie Nicks' first solo single:

"Stop Dragging My Heart Around" - Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers


"DESTINY'S CHILD" - DESTINY'S CHILD (1998)

In Houston, Texas, auditions were held in 1990 looking for young girls to join a singing group. Six girls were selected including eleven year old LaTavia Roberson, and Kelly Rowland and ten year old, Beyonce Knowles. The group was called Girl's Tyme and they sang r&b, hip-hop and gospel with dance routines. They performed all over the Houston area, creating some buzz for the group.

This lead to an opportunity to perform on the television talent show, "Star Search" but Girl's Tyme failed to advance on the program. This disappointment lead to a line-up change with three girls leaving the group and a new singer was added, LeToya Luckett.

Beyonce's father, Matthew Knowles, who was already managing his daughter as well as Kelly and LaTavia, took over for the group. Girl's Tyme went through several name changes but were not happy with any of them. Tina Knowles, Beyonce's mother and the group's stylist came upon a page in the Bible with the word, "destiny" catching her eye. Matthew added the word, "child" and Destiny's Child was born.

The next step was getting a record deal and Matthew managed to get the girls signed to Columbia Records in 1997. Their first album, the self-titled, "Destiny's Child" was released the following year and featured production by Jermaine Dupri, Wyclef Jean and Dwayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone!. The album had a hit single, "No, No, No Part 2 (featuring Wyclef Jean)" that went straight to number one on the r&b charts and number three on the Pop. That single and the album sold over a million copies each.

After this success, Destiny's Child quickly went back in to the studio to complete their second album. "The Writing's On The Wall" came out in 1999 with a new group of hot producers including Rodney Jerkins and Kevin "She'Kspere" Briggs. The album was a massive hit, yielding four top-ten singles; "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Bug A Boo (H-town Screwed Mix)", "Jumpin', Jumpin'" and  "Say My Name". This album would receive six Grammy Award nominations and sell well over sixteen million copies worldwide.

Despite all of this success and acclaim, Destiny's Child was experiencing some internal turmoil. In December 1999,  LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett only wanted to end Matthew Knowles as their manager and had no desire to leave the group but then they saw Beyonce and Kelly on MTV's TRL to introduce the new music video for the song, "Say My Name", announcing that LaTavia and LeToya had left Destiny's Child and saw two other girls,  Farah Franklin and Michelle Williams performing in the video. The ladies took legal action against Matthew Knowles and the other members of the group and the case was eventually settled out of court  After five months, Farah Franklin was asked to leave the group, due to excessive absences and Destiny's Child permanently became a trio.

Destiny's Child released four more successful albums, "Survivor" (2001) and "Destiny Fulfilled" (2004) as well as a remix ("This Is The Remix") and a holiday album ("8 Days Of Christmas"), recorded the hit song for the 2000 film, "Charlie's Angels" ("Independent Woman") and selling over sixty million records before deciding to end the group and go their separate ways in 2006.

Kelly Rowland has released two moderately successful r&b albums but has found major success with dance music, teaming up with French DJ, David Guetta with the 2009 song, "When Love Takes Over" where it became an international smash and earned her a Grammy Award. She is due to release her third album sometime later this year.

Michelle Williams has recorded three solo albums including "Heart to Yours" (2002) which was a top seller on the gospel charts but her claim to fame right now is as an actress, performing in theater on Broadway in the musicals, "Aida", "Chicago", and "The Color Purple"

Beyonce Knowles has been in a few movies and sold some records.

This is the first hit for Destiny's Child:

"No, No, No pt. 2" - Destiny's Child featuring Wyclef Jean

Here is the video for the song, "Bootylicious" which features a sample of the Stevie Nicks' song, "Edge Of Seventeen" (and Stevie even makes a brief appearance):




"THE B-52'S" - THE B-52'S (1979)

In 1977, these five friends, guitarist, Ricky Wilson, his younger sister, Cindy on vocals, Kate Pierson on vocals and organ, Keith Strickland on drums and percussion and Fred Schneider on vocals and the cowbell, first performed together as a musical group at a Valentine's Day party in Athens, GA. They called themselves The B-52's which was a slang term for a beehive hairdo and their quirky sound combined dance, new-wave and surf music and they wore thrift store clothing on stage when they performed.

Their first recording was the song, "Rock Lobster" which was released by the Atlanta based, DB Records in 1978. The song became a local hit and garnered the attention of a major label, Warner Bros. which signed the group in 1979. The group's debut album, "The B-52's" was released later that year and was produced by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records. The album featured a new version of "Rock Lobster" with the song reaching only as high as number fifty-six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart but the album would sell well over a million copies in the US alone.

The follow-up album, "Wild Planet" was released in 1980 and included the song, "Private Idaho (Album Version)" which made it to only number seventy-four on the pop charts but reached number five on US Hot Dance Play charts. The B-52's also made their US television debut with a memorable appearance on "Saturday Night Live" later that year.

In July of 1985, during the recording of The B-52's fifth studio album, "Bouncing Off The Satellites", no one was aware that Ricky Wilson was suffering from AIDS related health issues. He did not tell his band mates because he did not want them to worry or fuss over him. On October 12, Ricky died from complications of the disease at the age of thirty-two. Everyone was devastated and did not think they could continue on as a band. The album was released the following year but they did not tour to promote the project although the album did have two single reach the top ten on the dance charts, "Summer Of Love [Summer Party Mix]" and "Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland".

During the hiatus, Keith Strickland switched from drums to guitar and began writing music. The other three members decided to come together with him and see what they might be able to do musically. "Cosmic Thing", produced by Don Was and Nile Rodgers, was completed and released in 1989 and would become their biggest commerical success. The first single, "Channel Z" would go to number one on the US Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts but the next song would become a world wide hit. "Love Shack" peaked at number three on the US pop charts while the group's next single, "Roam" would also reach that same position. The album made it to top five and sold over four million copies in the US.

The B-52's have completed eight albums with  "Funplex [+Digital Booklet]" being released in 2008, sixteen years after their last album, "Good Stuff" (1992) which was done without Cindy Wilson who had decided to take a break.

This is the single that started it all for the band:

"Rock Lobster" - The B-52's